Innovation At Last!

Jan 28, 2009 -

How often do you find a site you like and then Google it to see if there’s an affiliate programme? Personally I do it maybe once a week, and in the lead up to seasonal sales, possibly twice a week! After using Marks new website, Affiliate Merchants for a number of days, I think it’s something all us affiliates should offer our support to.

It’s not a completely new idea, infact it WebAffiliate started off listing merchants way back in 2001. Due to the manual update required it was scrapped pretty quickly. Affiliate Bounty then emerged as a solution, but again over recent months, has been pulled. Now we have Affiliate Merchants, the latest attempt at informing affiliates of all the programmes in the UK, available on all networks.

The site makes use of feeds from networks, meaning the updating should be a breeze (in theory). Mark’s website is new, and so modifications and additions will take place over time. Currently Affiliate Merchants doesn’t list ever merchant, due to not all networks supplying him with the information, but as a starting point, it’s definately one to have in your favourites or bookmarks.

The site is very easy to navigate and allows you to search for a merchant by name or category, something Kieron could have used only a few days ago when Figleaves pulled the plug and he asked the question about alternatives lingerie merchants.

Currently the information provided on each merchant is minimal, which in one respect is a refreshing change. I don’t want to know the merchants history as I can often find this out from their network signup page. Straight to the point info such as which network their with, the category, whether they have a feed or allow PPC is whats relayed currently. I have fed back to Mark that it maybe useful to include the commission levels offered by the merchant too.

I know DGM are actively seeking representation on the Affiliate Merchant Directory website, and hope the remaining networks such TD, CJ, Paid on Results and Affiliate Future are quick to follow. This could prove to be an invaluable resource if all networks contribute.

Take a look at http://www.affiliatemerchants.org.uk

http://www.davidfiske.com David Fiske

Mark – nice to see the website completed :D . It looks good!
http://www.affiliatemerchants.org.uk Affiliate Merchants Directory

Chris.
Many thanks for offering your support to this. I genuinely want this to be a support tool for affiliates. Many people in the affiliate community have offered me support and this is a small token with which I’m trying to add to the community as a whole. As Chris says, the site is new and my inbox is growing with willing participants. Thanks too to David for his help with the PR Template design – brilliant service and one that was done at a time when he didn’t have any! Very much appreciated.
http://webgains.com hero

we’re working with Mark to automate the program feed he gets from us, so the info is always up to date.
It’s a great service and a much needed one for the industry.
http://www.venturian-media.com Neil

Looks really good.

The only thing I would add apart from what is mentioned above is a link to the merchants website as well as the link to the network.

It works great as is if you are looking for a merchant you already know, but if you were scouring for a list of merchants that had affiliate programmes then a link to see what their websites looked like / what they sold would be really useful.

Cheers.

Neil